月読

Japanese
Kanji in this term
月 読
つき
Grade: 1		 よ(み)
Grade: 2
kun’yomi
Kanji in this term
月 読
つく
Grade: 1		 よ(み)
Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

Etymology

Originally a compound of 月 (tsuku, “the moon”) +‎ 読み (yomi, “reading”, ancient meaning of “counting”), and referred to telling the phase (sense 4) of the moon.[1]

This spelling was later repurposed as jukujikun (熟字訓) for a compound of 月 (tsuku, “the moon”) +‎ 夜 (yo, “night”) +‎ 神 (mi, “god”).[1]

The tsuku reading for 月 is the ancient combining form. Tsukuyomi is the older reading, and this appears to be less common. 月 is read as tsuki in modern Japanese, resulting in the more-common Tsukiyomi reading for this term.

Pronunciation

Proper noun

月読 (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 月讀, hiragana つくよみ, katakana ツクヨミ, rōmaji Tsukuyomi, alternative reading つきよみ, katakana ツキヨミ, rōmaji Tsukiyomi)

  1. (Japanese mythology, Shinto) Tsukuyomi, the Japanese moon god
  2. (poetic) the Moon

Derived terms
  • 月読男, 月夜見男 (つくよみおとこ, ​Tsukuyomi otoko): personification of the moon, the moon man (not the "man in the moon")
  • 月読尊, 月読命, 月夜見命 (つくよみのみこと, ​Tsukuyomi no Mikoto): formal name for the Japanese god of the moon
  • 月読宮, 月夜見宮 (つきよみのみや, ​Tsukiyomi no Miya; つくよみのみや, ​Tsukuyomi no Miya): a shrine to Tsukuyomi in the Miyajiri area of Ise, Mie Prefecture

See also

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1997, 新明解国語辞典 (Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten), Fifth Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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